Robbie Caldwell.
You don’t know him.
Neither do I. Nor do the rest of the football media gathered here on the outskirts of Birmingham. Even the other SEC head coaches don’t know him.
That’s too bad for us.
Make no mistake, there is a new media star in the conference (at least for a year) and he is the head football coach at Vanderbilt.
At his appearance in the main press room at SEC Football Media Days this morning, the recently named interim head Commodore sounded like Jerry Clower while mentioning among other things:
Turkey farming.
Pouring concrete.
Pipe fitting.
Frog Gigging.
Hunting.
Fishing.
Watermelon.
Cussing.
Oh yeah, a little football too.
Coming across like a favorite uncle or the best high school coach you ever played for, Caldwell entertained the gathered media with his country accent, self-deprecating sense of humor, openly emotional personality, and quick one-liners.
Whether he’ll be able to hold on to the Vandy job for more than just a season may be questionable, but he certainly has one group behind him – the football writers gathered here in Hoover.
You can check out the SEC’s newest coaching star by visiting the conference website (see links on side) and following football prompts to the media days video clips.
It will be worth your time.
The Campus Game 